Part 21 (1/2)

Next to his desk was a silver tazza, a platter on a pedestal that held a collection of whiskey tots that looked to be quite old. On the desk was an ivory pen and inkwell, and a crystal paperweight with a small gold coin embedded in it. There was a tobacco box and another wooden box that held a stack of high-quality vellum. And there, on the edge of his desk, was a heavy silver tray that held the post.

There were a few unopened letters in the tray, which, she a.s.sumed, Dawson had placed there today.

Ava sat down in the tall-backed leather chair and put the candelabrum aside. She spread her hands on the desk, imagined him sitting here, engaged in any number of important business dealings. Her eye fell to the post again, and she picked up the small stack of letters and flipped through them.

They were all of a business nature, judging by their wax seals. But the last one was different. It was a woman's handwriting, the script of it heartbreakingly familiar.

The Honorable Lord Middleton, Esq., it read on the front. Ava slowly turned it over and looked at the seal. There, embedded in the red wax, were three letters. A large W in the center, with a smaller M and P on either side of it.

Lady Waterstone.

Ava dropped the letter in the tray as if it were poisonous, and carelessly tossed the other letters on top of it. First Lady Kettle. Now this.

On second thought, she dug through the post, fished the letter out, and stuffed it in her pocket. It was a horrid breach of privacy-but then again, Lady Waterstone had breached her privacy.

Ava stood up, arranged Middleton's desk just so, and then picked up the candelabrum and walked out, her heart pounding in her chest. She was not a thief. At least not until tonight, not until she realized that whatever she might have thought marriage would be, whatever she might have made of it, she could never accept another woman in her husband's bed. At his breakfast table, perhaps. But in his bed? Never.

Now she had to convince him of it.

The next morning, Sally woke Ava by throwing open the drapes and slapping the bottom of her exposed foot, which had escaped the bedcovers.

”Up with you,” she said sternly when Ava whimpered. ”They'll have my head if you sleep too long. b.l.o.o.d.y rigid here, they are,” she said, hands on hips as Ava tried to sit up. ”Expecting me to clean and whatnot in addition to tending you!”

”Do they?” Ava asked sleepily. ”I can speak to Miss Hillier-”

”Don't bother. She'll undoubtedly have me sent away before the day is gone-we had words this morning.”

”Sally!” Ava cried, fully awake now. ”Miss Hillier was his lords.h.i.+p's nursemaid! You can't go round angering her!”

Sally tossed her head and clucked her tongue as she dropped Ava's dressing gown on her lap. ”Don't fret so! I'll be good.”

Ava hoped that was a vow. She slipped into her dressing gown and stood up, stretched her arms high in the air, then walked to the basin, threw water on her face, and reached for a brush.

”Ach, but you don't look as if you've slept a wink!” Sally observed. ”G.o.d help you if your bed is as hard as mine. Like sleeping on river rocks, it is.”

”My bed is fine,” Ava muttered. ”It's not that.”

Sally stopped in the making of the bed and glanced up. ”What?”

Ava sighed, pulled open her bureau, removed Lady Waterstone's letter, and held it up between two fingers.

Sally quickly crossed the room to have a look. ”What's it say?” she asked Ava.

”It's addressed to Middleton. The seal is that of Lady Waterstone.” When Sally was clearly unaware ofwho that was, Ava felt tears welling up. ”She is his mistress...yet. And perhaps not the only one!””Ooh,” Sally said, nodding sagely. ”Come on, then, let's have a look at it,” she said, gesturing for Ava to open it.”Read it? I can't break a seal on a letter addressed to him!””Would you share him with a wh.o.r.e?” Sally asked flatly.Ava shook her head.”Open it,” she said again.Ava reluctantly took the letter and broke the seal and began to read.”Aloud, if you please,” an exasperated Sally insisted.Ava drew a breath. ”My darling,” she read aloud, and felt her belly clutch. She closed her eyes until Sally lightly punched her arm. She looked at the letter again and turned partially away from Sally. ”My darling,”she repeated. ”I live in agony, counting the hours until I see you again. Every day extends unbearably longinto the next-you know my disposition too well to not be aware how desperate I am without younearby. The only pleasure I can seem to derive is to dream of what Providence will bring me when youare in London again. I have sacrificed for you, darling, and never will I be happy in this world if I cannotbe with you. Please hurry back to me so that I will suffer no more. Faithfully yours, M.”

Ava angrily crumpled the letter. But Sally peeled it from her fingers and looked at the writing on thepage. ”Very well done,” she said, and looked up, a.s.sessing Ava closely. ”She's right cunning, this one-she knows how to speak to a man's ego. You must be just as cunning, mu'um.”

”But I don't know how to be cunning!” Ava moaned, falling helplessly onto a chaise. ”It's hopeless, isn't

it? I shall lose my husband before I've even known him!””For the love of G.o.d!” Sally cried. ”Will you give in so easily! You may as well deliver him to her with apretty bow tied round him. Will you not at least attempt to have him?”

”I don't know how,” Ava said morosely.

”Well I do,” Sally said, and sat on the chaise next to Ava. She put one hand on her shoulder, forcing Avato look up. ”Now, mu'um...have you heard of the harem?””The what?” Ava asked dully.”The harem,” Sally said, leaning forward. ”They've a way of moving that drives a man to madness,” she whispered, and began to describe-in very graphic detail-how a woman in a harem conducts herself in

the presence of a man.

Ava gasped, covered her hand with her mouth, and made sounds of shock as Sally talked. How Sally knew such things Ava did not want to know.

But she hung on to every blessed word.

Twenty-one.

J ared returned to Broderick Abbey at dusk the next day, having cut short his trip to Marshbridge for reasons he wasn't entirely certain.

He asked for his wife, but Dawson told him she was engaged and, incidentally, would not be available to dine with him at supper, either, as her lady's maid had arrived, and there was some work that could not wait.

”Work?” Jared asked skeptically. ”What sort of work?”

Dawson's face pinched slightly. ”I wouldn't rightly know, my lord, but were I to venture a guess...Iwould note that quite a lot of trunks arrived along with the lady's maid.”

”Ah,” Jared said, and nodded sagely, knowing full well a woman's love of her things. ”Well, then...didshe say when I might be allowed the pleasure of her company?” he asked wryly.

”She did not, my lord. I could inquire-”

”No, thank you,” Jared said with a small smile. ”I shall inquire personally.”

He retreated to his study and reviewed the post, but finding nothing remarkable, he adjourned to his rooms to change for supper. In his suite, however, he heard the faint laughter of women filtering in through the hearth. He paused to listen, but heard nothing more. He started to move again, but heard the distinct sound of laughter again.

He sighed. Apparently, he would have to speak with her. He had hoped that Ava had come around tothe reality of their marriage and harbor no fantastic illusions about it, but he hadn't realized that she'd betraipsing off to Broderick on foot, or splas.h.i.+ng about the lake, or carrying on with her lady's maid.Another burst of laughter, however, made him curious. He left his suite again and walked the length ofcorridor to the main door of Ava's suite.

There it was again, the laughter of two women. But when he rapped on the door, the laughter abruptly stopped. In fact, there was no sound at all coming from the room. He frowned and rapped harder. He then heard some muted sounds of movement, and had the distinct impression that someone was running in circles about the room.